more centerboard

A thought has been lurking in the back of my mind all evening concerning
centerboards, and it finally surfaced. There is a very good reason not to
sail with the centerboard down when running, the more so as the wind
increases. In the event you round up and broach to, it will be much more
dramatic and potentially dangerous if you have your board down. The boat
will try to skid downwind to maintain stability, but if the board is down,
it will trip over the board, dramatically increasing the heel and stopping
the boat with a bang. I'm sure we are all aware that running in a wind is
the most dangerous point of sail and accounts for more boat damage and
injuries than any other.
Also, at anchor in a wind, many boats will 'lunge', attempt to sail past
the anchor, first to one side and then to the other, if the board is down.
With the board up, they will be able to slide sideways enough to prevent
that. With the relatively flat bottom and hard chines of the SJ23, I'd
suspect it would do that. Has anyone experienced this?
Bob
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